Department of Health and Social Care

Medical Treatments: Lasers

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of re-classifying laser treatment as non-cosmetic to enable those with PCOS needing laser treatment for hirsutism and/or acne, to receive it on the NHS.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made.

Sheehan's Syndrome

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2022 to Question 120844 on Sheehan's Syndrome, whether that data is held by a public body.

Maria Caulfield: This data is not held by a public body. NHS England and NHS Improvement encourage maternity providers to follow national guidelines for the prevention and treatment of peripartum haemorrhage, a cause of Sheehan’s Syndrome. Outcomes at provider level are reported in the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit and the National Maternity Dashboard.

Dentistry: Migrant Workers

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists who qualified outside the UK were given a performer number in (a) Portsmouth, (b) the South East and (c) England in each of the last five financial years; and what the average time taken for the performer number to be allocated was in each case.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally. There are currently 32,695 dentists on the Dental Performers List for England.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Ukrainian refugees will be eligible for covid-19 vaccinations on arrival to the UK; and what steps he is taking to encourage covid-19 vaccination uptake for this cohort.

Maria Caulfield: COVID-19 vaccinations are offered to every eligible individual living in the United Kingdom free of charge, regardless of immigration status. This includes those who arrived as refugees from Ukraine. We are sharing accessible guides and health publications on COVID-19 vaccinations which have been translated into Ukrainian. Additionally, over £23 million has been provided to sixty councils and voluntary groups in areas of low vaccine uptake in England.A COVID-19 Migrant Health Guide was also published to provide advice and guidance for healthcare practitioners on the needs of migrant patients during the pandemic, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-migrant-health-guide

NHS: Dental Services

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the availability of NHS dentists in (a) Portsmouth, (b) the South East and (c) England.

Maria Caulfield: In 2020/2021, there were 23,733 dentists with National Health Service activity in England, 4,136 in the South East and 90 in Portsmouth. Between January and March 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver at least 85% of contracted units of dental activity and 90% of units of orthodontic activity to improve access for patients safely. NHS dentists have been asked to maximise safe treatment to meet as many prioritised needs as possible, focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups followed by overdue appointments.

Health: Females

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2022 to Question 112645, on what date the Women’s Health Strategy will be published.

Edward Argar: We aim to publish the Women’s Health Strategy in spring 2022, although a specific publication date has not yet been decided.

Dental Services: Finance

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money was clawed back by NHS England from primary care NHS dental practices in England which had not met their contractual targets in each year since 2010-11.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money clawed back by NHS England from primary care NHS dental practices in England which had not met their contractual targets was re-invested in dental services in each year since 2010-11.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the monies clawed back by NHS England as of March 2022 from primary care National Health Service dental practices in England which had not met their contractual targets in each year since 2012/13. Data is not available before 2012/13.Financial yearMonies recovered relating to the under-delivery in the previous financial year £2012/1348,642,3412013/1445,051,9812014/1545,083,2102015/1680,330,4422016/1788,942,2322017/18140,333,2272018/19137,237,6452019/20168,639,6962020/218,333,654 In cases where a provider has underperformed, clawback of payment from providers is carried out in the subsequent financial year. No estimate has yet been made for overall clawback relating to underperformance in 2021/22. The Government’s accounting rules do not allow carry forward of any unspent monies, so clawback cannot be re-invested in year. However, the NHS commits £3 billion for dentistry services each year.

Cancer: Children

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that a variety of treatments are available for children with cancer.

Maria Caulfield: The NHS Long Term Plan commits to improve the outcomes and experience of children, teenagers and young adults with cancer. These include implementing networked care; simplifying pathways and transitions between service; ensuring that every patient has access to specialist care; and increasing participation in clinical research.NHS England and NHS Improvement have published a service specification setting out the functions and requirements of principal treatment centres and the Children’s Cancer Operational Delivery Networks. This will enable services to improve and widen access to psychological support, clinical trials and tumour banking. The National Health Service now offers all children and young people with cancer whole genome sequencing to allow more comprehensive and precise diagnosis and access to personalised treatments.

Blood Cancer: Diagnosis

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what reassurances he has had from NHS England that the increased provision of care in the community and remote consultations as a result of the covid-19 outbreak will not result in missed blood cancer diagnoses.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to support an urgent evaluation by NHS England of blood cancer outcomes during the covid-19 outbreak.

Maria Caulfield: The National Health Service is establishing non-specific symptom pathways to streamline diagnostic services for cancer, including those symptoms which may indicate potential blood cancer. We are also investing £325 million in diagnostics to provide patients with access to personalised care.The current ‘Help us help you’ awareness campaign was launched in March 2022, to address some of the barriers which may prevent people consulting their general practitioner on the potential symptoms of cancer. NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing future phases of the campaign in 2022/23 to raise awareness of key cancer symptoms. The full impacts of the pandemic on blood cancer outcomes are not yet known. We remain committed to returning the number of people waiting over 62 days to start treatment to pre-pandemic levels and increasing referrals by encouraging patients to come forward.Since September 2020, the Cancer Alliance Data, Evaluation and Analysis Service and the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service have published analysis on the recovery of urgent cancer referrals and first treatments by age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation. This data is informing the restoration and recovery of cancer services and is available at the following link:http://www.ncin.org.uk/local_cancer_intelligence/cadeas

Clinical Trials

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason his Department does not provide regular reporting on the number of clinical trials underway by the NHS.

Maria Caulfield: Regular reporting on clinical trials underway in the National Health Service is available via the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and NHS provider websites. The NIHR funds and supports a range of clinical trials underway in the NHS. The Department, which funds the NIHR, requires NHS providers with NIHR contracts to report quarterly on trial recruitment for all their clinical trials as part of the ‘Performance in Initiating and Delivering Clinical Research’ exercise. Providers’ performance data must also be published on their website. The NIHR publishes a comparison table showing the performance of all NHS organisations which submit information to the exercise and trend analyses.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS performance figures for February 2022, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients waiting 12 hours or more in emergency departments from decision to admit.

Edward Argar: NHS England and NHS Improvement publish the number of patients waiting in emergency departments for admission for 12 hours or more from decision to admit on a monthly basis. In February 2022, 16,404 patients waited over 12 hours from decision to admit to admission.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on meeting the Government's commitment to recruit 6,000 more GPs; and of those 6,000 GPs how many are planned to be (a) full time equivalent, (b) not new but retained, (c) trainees who are unable to work unsupervised and (d) operating under any form of licence restriction.

Maria Caulfield: There were 1,672 more full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice in December 2021 compared to December 2019. As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is for general practitioner (GP) practices to determine the appropriate workforce for their practice. As such, there is no central plan for the proportions of the future workforce in the format requested. In December 2021, there were 8,394 headcount qualified, permanent GPs working on a full-time basis.The 2020 updated GP Contract Framework announced a number of new retention schemes alongside existing schemes for the general practice workforce. The National GP Retention Scheme had 632 doctors on the scheme as at 31 December 2021 by headcount, contributing 250 FTE. Doctors in training to become GPs in training are unable to work as independent general practitioners until they have gained their Certificate of Completion of Training. As in hospital settings, doctors in training are delivering direct patient care whilst being safely supervised and supported.The General Medical Council (GMC) may place restrictions on an individual’s ability to practise medicine where serious concerns arise about their fitness to practise. In addition to holding a GMC registration and licence to practise, any doctor who wishes to provide primary general medical services must also be included on NHS England’s Medical Performers List, which can also include restrictions on the work the doctor can undertake. The GMC’s restrictions do not necessarily prevent the doctor from continuing to provide those services.

NHS: Dental Services

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the number of hours worked by NHS dentists in (a) Portsmouth, (b) the South East and (c) England.

Maria Caulfield: The latest data available shows that in 2019/20, National Health Service dentists worked a weekly average of 36.6 hours in England. Data on the number of hours worked in the South East or Portsmouth is not held centrally.

Kidney Diseases: Dialysis Machines

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2021 to Question 62570, what assessment he has made of the progress of the Renal Services Transformation Programme against its aim of all units providing home therapies to at least 20 per cent of patients.

Maria Caulfield: There has been no further assessment of progress on the percentage of patients receiving home therapies at each unit since November 2021. Reporting on patients receiving home therapies at each unit providing home therapy is undertaken via the Renal Registry Annual Data collection. Data is received in the summer following the year of the collection period.

Kidney Diseases: Dialysis Machines

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the annual cost to the NHS per patient for (a) in-centre haemodialysis, (b) home haemodialysis, and (c) home peritoneal dialysis.

Maria Caulfield: The average annual cost per patient for in-centre haemodialysis, home haemodialysis and home peritoneal dialysis in England is shown in the following table.In-centre haemodialysis (three cycles per week)£24,726Home haemodialysis (three to four cycles per week)£25,116Home peritoneal dialysis (six cycles per week)£21,216 Notes:All costs will be indicative, as Market Forces Factor (MFF), transport costs, planned outpatient review and non-elective care will differ between patients and provider contracts.It should be noted that reference costs represent the average cost per patient of delivering therapies in England, not the annual cost, as this is how the tariff is set. We have provided the average cost per patient for different types of haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis as this data is held.

Cancer: Health Services

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the (a) NHS is training a cancer workforce that can meet the rising burden of cancer in years to come and (b) year-on-year spend is there to support that workforce.

Edward Argar: In 2021/22, Health Education England has invested £52 million in the cancer and diagnostics workforce. Between 2016 and 2021, the annual growth rate of the overall cancer workforce has remained between 3% to 4%. Spending plans for individual budgets for 2022/23 and beyond are subject to a detailed financial planning exercise and will be finalised in due course. This includes the education and training of the cancer workforce. The forthcoming 10 Year Cancer Plan will also ensure that the appropriate workforce is in place to deliver services.

Protective Clothing: Slavery

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the modern slavery statement covering procurement of personal protective equipment since January 2020.

Edward Argar: The Department published its statement on modern slavery in October 2021, which covered the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2020. A separate statement by the NHS Supply Chain relating to modern slavery in the procurement of PPE is due to be published in the autumn.

Nurses: Recruitment

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on recruiting 50,000 nurses.

Edward Argar: The latest available date shows that in January 2022, there are approximately 29,100 more nurses compared to September 2019. A programme has been established to improve retention and support return to practice, invest in and diversify the training pipeline and ethically recruit internationally.

Food: Labelling

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the psychological impact of displaying calorie information on menus.

Edward Argar: The Department published an impact assessment and an equalities assessment detailing the likely effect of the policy. As part of these assessments, we have considered the available evidence around eating disorders and displaying calorie information. The Department will continue to evaluate the impact of the out of home calorie labelling Regulations, including on people living with eating disorders. We will review the Regulations and publish a post-implementation review within three to five years.

Health Services

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to maximise NHS capacity.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service is expanding the use of virtual wards to safely care for patients at home and the use of independent sector capacity. Patient discharges are being maximised, including the provision of updated hospital discharge guidance for local areas.The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ is investing £8 billion in the recovery of elective services over the next three years. We are allocating £2.3 billion to increase the number of community diagnostic centres to 160 by March 2025 and £1.5 billion to support elective recovery, including the ongoing deployment of surgical hubs. This will deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million more checks, scans and procedures and 30% more elective activity by 2024/25.

Care Homes: Infectious Diseases

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on the threshold for the number of infections that constitute an outbreak in care homes.

Gillian Keegan: The Department regularly engages with adult social care representative organisations and care providers on outbreak measures in care homes. We continue to monitor these measures and engage with the UK Health Security Agency to support the management of outbreaks.The definition of an outbreak, of two or more positive linked cases in a care home within 14 days, is a longstanding medical principle based upon sound epidemiological principles and is used to support, identify and respond to many infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

Department of Health and Social Care: Public Expenditure

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will detail the losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for his departmental group as defined by section A4.10.7 in HM Treasury's Managing Public Money for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.

Edward Argar: The departmental group includes 25 arm’s length bodies, 135 clinical commissioning groups and 219 National Health Service providers. Each legal entity within the group discloses the losses and special payments within its annual report and accounts. The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts includes the consolidated number and total value of losses and special payments for the entire departmental group.The Department does not collect details relating to all losses and special payments below £300,000 from its underlying group bodies, therefore this information is not available for the departmental group. The Department’s losses and special payments from 2018/19 to 2020/21 is shown in the attached tables.DHSC: Special Payments 2020-21 (xlsx, 47.5KB)

Hip Replacements and Knee Replacements: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in York who have been identified as requiring a hip or knee replacement (a) have not been referred for surgery as a result of their body mass index being too high, (b) have been referred for surgery after reducing their body mass index and (c) have died whilst trying to reduce their body mass index in order to have their hip or knee replacement commissioned in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health Services

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to expand the delivery of personalised healthcare.

Edward Argar: The Department has committed to increasing personalisation and patient choice, with the aim of four million people benefiting from personalised care by March 2024. The My Planned Care platform has been launched to provide personalised information on waiting times by specialty and region. We are also ensuring patients are consistently offered choice on their own care at the point of referral and to patients with the longest waiting times through a national hub model. Perioperative care co-ordination teams have been established to develop personalised plans.In 2019, the Personalised Care Group published the action plan ‘Universal Personalised Care: Implementing the Comprehensive Model’, which brings together six components: personal health budgets; personalised care and support; enabling choice; social prescribing and community-based support; supported self-management; and shared decision making.

NHS: Vacancies

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to obtain additional resources to urgently tackle workforce shortages within the NHS.

Edward Argar: In February 2022, we published the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’. The plan sets out how the Department will support the National Health Service to increase capacity and reduce disruption to patient care by supporting the workforce. The Department is committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament to ensure a sustainable long-term supply for the NHS. In December 2021, the number of nurses had increased by over 27,000 compared to September 2019.We have introduced a non-repayable training grant offering at least £5,000 per academic year for three years for nursing, midwifery and allied health professions. Over 30,000 students have accepted a place nursing and midwifery programmes in the 2021 recruitment cycle - an increase of 28% compared to 2019. We have also increased the number of medical school places by 25%. The NHS Retention Programme is also targeting interventions to encourage staff to stay in the NHS whilst support their health and wellbeing.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the backlog in elective care following the covid-19 outbreak.

Edward Argar: In February 2022, the National Health Service published ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ which sets out how the NHS will recover and expand elective services over the next three years. We are investing more than £8 billion for elective care from 2022 to 2025, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund made available to systems in 2021 to increase elective activity and tackle long waiting lists. This funding aims to deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million more checks, scans and procedures and by 2024/25, deliver 30% more elective activity compared to pre-pandemic levels.The 2021 Spending Review announced a further £5.9 billion to support the recovery of elective services, diagnostics and technology. This includes £2.3 billion to establish 160 community diagnostic centres by 2025 to provide additional capacity for clinical tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound and computerised tomography scans.

Iain Duncan Smith

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what records his Department holds on (a) meetings and (b) correspondence with the hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green since March 2020.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what records his Department holds on (a) meetings and (b) correspondence with the hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan since March 2020.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what records his Department holds on (a) meetings and (b) correspondence with the hon. Member for Huntington since March 2020.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what records his Department holds on (a) meetings and (b) correspondence with the hon. Member for Winchester since March 2020.

Edward Argar: The information requested on records of meetings is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The following table shows the number of correspondence cases recorded on the Department’s central database for the hon. Members requested between 1 March 2020 and 14 March 2022.The Rt hon. Member for Chingford and Wood Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP)78The Rt hon. Member for the Vale of Glamorgan (Alun Cairns MP)221The hon. Member for Huntingdon (Jonathan Djanogly MP)184The hon. Member for Winchester (Steve Brine MP)13

Department for Education

Teachers: Arts

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools lack a qualified teacher in (a) art and design, (b) drama and (c) music.

Nick Gibb: The number of state-funded schools in England with no teachers holding a relevant post-A level qualification in art and design, drama or music is provided in the attached table.To reduce burden during the COVID-19 outbreak, schools and local authorities were not required to provide information on teacher qualifications in 2020. Therefore, the information provided relates to the November 2019 School Workforce Census.Please note that this information relates to qualifications of teachers, not the subjects taught. Information on subjects taught and teacher post-A level qualifications is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.Table for teacher employment qualifications (xls, 51.5KB)25092_table (xlsx, 22.4KB)

Teachers: Qualifications

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2021 to Question 25092 on Teachers: arts, how many schools lack a qualified teacher in each subject.

Mr Robin Walker: Legislation does not specify that teachers must have a degree in a particular subject or discipline. The Teachers’ Standards specify the subject knowledge required for the award of qualified teacher status. All trainee teachers must meet these by the time they complete their training.In November 2019, of 2,957 state-funded secondary schools in England, the most common subjects taught where no teachers in a school held relevant post A level qualification in the subject were: computing (293), Spanish (271) and media studies (225). The attached table provides further detail on all subjects.These figures relate only to schools where the subjects were taught. For example, a school that does not teach engineering and does not have a teacher with a post A level qualification in engineering is excluded from figures. In addition, figures only include schools that supplied both curriculum and teacher qualification data. This differs to the methodology used in the answer to question 25092, which included all schools, regardless of curriculum data and subjects taught. The present methodology better reflects the status of schools who do not have teachers with a post A level qualification in specific subjects.The information provided does not consider the subject taught by teachers. For example, a teacher with a qualification in mathematics may instead teach computer science. Information on subjects taught and teacher’s post A level qualifications is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-englandTo reduce the burden during the COVID-19 outbreak, schools and local authorities were not required to provide information on teacher qualifications in 2020. Therefore, the information provided relates to the November 2019 School Workforce Census.57024_table (xls, 53.0KB)57024_table (xlsx, 29.2KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Freedom of Information

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department received advice from the Government Legal Service on the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit report into the effectiveness of support for vulnerable people claiming Universal Credit and the cover report to it that went to the UC Programme Board in October 2019 should be withheld from publication on the basis of section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs).

David Rutley: The Department has not received advice from the Government Legal Service related to this request. Engaging section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act requires that a ‘qualified person’ agrees that, on balance, it is in the public interest to withhold the information from publication.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Public Expenditure

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will detail the losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for his departmental group as defined by section A4.10.7 in HM Treasury's Managing Public Money for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.

Victoria Prentis: The losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for the departmental group for the years 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 as already held on the record of losses for the public sector organisations within the departmental group, in accordance with Managing Public Money (Annex A4.10.7), or as otherwise held for the purposes of special payment disclosures, are set out below. These disclosures are consistent with the organisations’ obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018. (a) 2018-19 Loss / Special PaymentAmount (£)DescriptionLoss137,750.001 project that the European Court of Auditors reduced the project value, resulting in a reduction of £137,750Loss122,157.552 projects were subject to Legal proceedings by MMO (Marine Management Organisation). The applicant was found guilty, but the Court judgement was that funding could not be recovered.Loss64,239.522 projects where the company is bankrupt and administrators have advised repayment of grant is unlikelyLoss32,559.559 projects paid at incorrect intervention rate totalling £32,559.55. The irregularity was detected by Audit and covered the period from 2010 - 15.Loss9,997.881 Project subject to both Ombudsman referral and MMO Legal considerationLoss3,449.67Invoice number 1000052670 dated 17 June 2015 for £5,249.67 to recover a salary overpayment. Regular repayments had been made but these ceased in January 2017. SSCL have been unable to contact person & there has been no response to the final notice that SSCL (Shared Services Connected Ltd) sent in May 2017.Loss2,577.941 project was subject to overpayment, which was detected after final payment at the end of the EFF (European Fisheries Fund) scheme. Identified as part of formal EFF closure activity.Loss1,897.813 Projects were detected by Audit activities during the course of the Programme and total £1,897.81. One project was overpaid due to exchange rate calculation, one refused to repay the small OP and cited bankruptcy, with the final applicant being untraceable from 2015.Loss1,469.90Invoice 1000064304 dated 22 April 2016 for £1,469.90 to recover an overpayment of a season ticket advance. SSCL have been unable to contact him & there has been no response to the final notice that SSCL sent in May 2017.Loss1,108.94Damage to cage traps used during badger control culling operation for bovine TB disease controls in 2018 by anti culling activists. 12 cage traps were damaged beyond repair.Loss580.35System error which added an incorrect VAT sum to an invoice. Beyond legal recovery period.Loss454.14Paid £587.50 to wrong supplier. Partially recovered in legacy. Beyond legal recovery period.Loss193.52Travel reimbursement paid to wrong employee who left shortly after. Would require full trace at circa £50 plus staff time to find sufficient records to instigate plus potential chasing costs. Uneconomic to recover.Loss101.46Land line phone calls billed after employee left. Would require full trace at circa £50 plus staff time to find sufficient records to instigate plus potential chasing costs. Uneconomic to recover.Loss44.40Legacy system error which added VAT. Beyond legal recovery period.Loss42.24Credit note for 2 invoices paid in legacy system which was partially recovered in final payment to supplier in February 2012. Beyond legal recovery period.Loss27.97Personal mobile calls billed after employee left. Beyond legal recovery period.Loss27.00SSCL have advised that the remaining balance on the invoice of £27.00 has arisen due to the deduction of bank charges from the customer's payment and exchange rate variances. As the customer is based overseas it is uneconomical to pursue.Loss5.90Personal mobile calls billed after employee left. Uneconomic to recover.Loss0.23Personal mobile calls billed after employee left. Uneconomic to recover.Loss0.01Invoice 1000064804 dated 30 April 2016 for £24,000. This invoice was raised to recover Defra's incorrect payment of invoice 1129585 on 16th March 2016. The invoice has been part paid but given the outstanding amount of £0.01, it is uneconomical to pursue the remaining balance.Special Payment3,250.00A consolatory payment of £3,250 has been recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman (PHSO). £500 has been paid leaving an outstanding balance of £2,750. PHSO found that there had been maladministration by Defra in relation to the online portal in relation to the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones scheme and that someone had suffered injustice from DefraSpecial Payment119.00Request for a replacement of a damaged item of clothing - A member of staff had their jacket damaged by a fire door whilst on duty on MMO premises. (b) 2019-20 Loss / Special PaymentAmount (£)DescriptionLoss20,395.66Damage to cage traps, GPS trackers and smart phone with tracking devices used during badger control culling operation for bovine TB (Tuberculosis) disease controls in 2019 by anti culling activists. 5 cage traps, 178 smart phones and 8 trackers were damaged beyond repair.Special Payment54,596.00Derbyshire Lunar Cull – costs to company after cancelled cull programme.Special Payment5,000.00HR staff case (sensitive and details not for circulation outside of Defra Finance and HR teams).Special Payment1,224.00Judicial Review / Costs of cancelled mediation to claimant’s solicitors.Special Payment1,000.00Allegations of failure to arrange reasonable adjustments.Special Payment75.00Missing personal property. (c) 2020-21 Loss / Special PaymentAmount (£)DescriptionLoss240,257.00Historic invoicing not recoveredLoss15,597.62Damage to cage traps, GPS (Global Positioning System) trackers and smart phones/sims with tracking devices used during badger control culling operation for bovine TB disease controls in 2020 by anti culling activists. 2 cage traps, 132 smart phones and 38 trackers were damaged beyond repair.Loss1,445.04TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)) from EA (Environment Agency) to Defra. Came in on a TARA (Temporary Additional Responsibility Allowance) and her manager subsequently increased her TARA payments outside of existing policy. Her revised salary was confirmed to her by SSCL HR (Human Resources). Staff member was unaware this additional payment was not allowed. As no fault of the individual HR are proposing that this is written off rather than recoveredLoss740.15Sick pay was entered on SOP incorrectly by her manager leading to overpayment of £740.15. Staff member has since died and as such HR do not want to pursue her estate for the recovery of the overpaymentSpecial Payment9,000.00Race and Disability case. Settlement to offset tribunal costs.Special Payment8,500.00Reflects liability on the unfair dismissal claim

Home Office

Visas: Ukraine

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to amend the Ukraine Family Scheme visa application process so that family groups can (a) apply and (b) book visa application centre (VAC) appointments as a single group.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office and the commercial provider operating our Visa Application Centres have surged staff across Europe to meet demand. We can now offer over 13,000 appointments to visa applicants including family groups, with UKVI staff in the UK working seven days a week to process applications.

Home Office: Written Questions

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to Question 129103 tabled by the hon. Member for Bolton South East on 24 February 2022.

Kevin Foster: The response for UIN 129103 was given on 21 March 2022.

Refugees: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her oral statement of 1 March 2022, when further information on the humanitarian sponsorship pathway will be published.

Kevin Foster: The Homes for Ukraine scheme opened for applications on 18 March.Information on the scheme can be found at: Homes for Ukraine – Homes for Ukraine – Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine (campaign.gov.uk).

Refugees: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant of her oral statement of 1 March 2022, when further information on the Ukraine humanitarian sponsorship pathway will be published.

Kevin Foster: The Homes for Ukraine scheme opened for applications on 18 March. Information on the scheme can be found at: Homes for Ukraine – Homes for Ukraine – Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine (campaign.gov.uk).

Visas: Ukraine

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an estimate of how many Ukrainian refugees will apply for a UK visa.

Kevin Foster: The Government has set no limit on the number of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion who can come to the UK.In response to the invasion, the Government has set up the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.There is no limit to the number of individuals who can come to the UK via the Ukraine Family Scheme, provided they are eligible, and no limit to the number of Ukrainians who can come to the UK having secured a sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.Given the fluid situation on the ground in Ukraine it is impossible to give a precise estimate of how many will take up the two schemes on offer.

Visas: Ukraine

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian citizens have (a) applied for and (b) been refused a UK visa since the Russian invasion of that country.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not hold data on the number of Ukraine citizens who have applied for and been refused a UK visa since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. To do so would require a manual assessment of data and this would exceed the cost threshold The Home Office publishes data on the number of Ukraine citizens who have applied for and been refused Entry Clearance under our Migration Statistics. However, the data for the first quarter of 2022 has yet to be quality assured and will be published in our next quarterly update Further information can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Migration statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  The Home Office does publish regular data on the Ukraine Family Scheme, which can be found here: Ukraine Family Scheme: application data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Cabinet Office

Veterans: Employment

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish all data his Department holds on the number of veterans working (a) in the NHS, (b) as prison officers and (c) as teachers.

Leo Docherty: Data on veterans’ employment is improving all the time but there is still more to do. Data held by NHSE indicates that between Q1 19/20 and Q3 21/22,1,595 NHS job offers were made to applicants who have previously served in the Armed Forces, although it is unclear how many of those offers were accepted Data from the Ministry of Justice indicates that between March 2017 and December 2021 there were 1,568 Prison Officers recorded as having previous service in the Armed Forces. The Department for Education does not hold data on how many veterans are working as teachers.